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Marshall gets redemption, wins state tennis title

After falling in a state title tennis match a year ago, Olton’s Robert Marshall redeemed himself by winning a championship.

Marshall defeated Wink’s Christian Mercier 6-0, 6-1 to win the Class 2A boys singles state championship on Friday in College Station on Friday.

“It was overwelming. I really just didn’t realize it at first,” Marshall said. “Kind of took me a little bit to realize it. The match I played, it just really shocked me. It just happened and I was like ‘What’. Then the feeling got to me.”

Although the senior walked away with a title, winning it a year after falling in the title match was bittersweet. Marshall didn’t get a shot at Corpus Christi London’s Dillon Humpal, who defeated him 6-2, 6-0 a year ago. Humpal won Class 3A boys singles Friday, his fourth consecutive state singles title.

“I think it was bittersweet,” Olton coach Natividad Sandoval. “Robert wanted to play that kid again. Last year, even though the score doesn’t do it justice, they went deuce a lot of the time.”

Marshall had a much harder time in Thursday’s semifinal round, beating Mason’s Caleb Horne, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5. That set up a rematch with Mercier, whom Marshall had beaten in the Region I-2A tournament.

”He had already played him before at regional tournament and he had beat him,” Sandoval said. “He was very confident. The day before, he had a hard time playing (Horne from Mason). He played him well, but he had a hard time beating him.

“We kind of knew the Mason kid was the one to beat. Once we beat him, (Marshall) was a lot more relaxed and played very loose, so he wasn’t as tight.”

Much like in their first encounter, Marshall won all but one game. But both the senior and Sandoval saw something before the match that showed Marshall could soon be a state champion.

“Honestly, the warmup kind of told me a little bit, because (Mercier) was very tense,” Marshall said. “It was like he was distracted, he was really nervous and I took advantage of it.

“All I had to do was put the ball back in play. I just took what I could. If that’s what he gives me, I have to take advantage of it. He’s a good player. He just didn’t play today like he used to.”